MHS Debate Team Advances to "Sweet 16" of International Competition

The Mason High School Debate Team advanced to the “Sweet 16” Round of the 2017-18 International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) competition. The MHS team is the only team from Ohio to advance this round.

The four MHS students on the team include Suraj Komatineni, Atneya Nair, Rahul Ramesh, and Alex Wang. They will know the results of this round on March 21.​
"​The team is debating a resolution about the enforcement mechanisms that International Climate Treaties should use. Right now, they are currently competing in the sixteenth ​

round, and if they win this round, then they will get an all-expense paid trip to New York. This is the second year that they have participated in this style of competition​," shared MHS ​Speech and Debate Team Head Coach Melissa Donahue.

These students completed their own independent entries for the competition, outside of the school sanctioned Speech and Debate program.

IPPF is the first and only competition that gives high school students from around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. By advancing, these students remain eligible to win a $10,000 grand prize.

This year, teams submitted qualifying round essays affirming or negating the IPPF topic, “Resolved: International climate accords for greenhouse gas emissions should adopt binding enforcement mechanisms.” Those essays were reviewed by a committee, which determined the top 64 teams based on the overall quality of each 2,800-word essay. The pool was then narrowed down to 32 teams, then 16 teams, and if MHS advances this round, the team will win an all-expenses paid trip to the IPPF Finals in New York City on April 21.

In the “Round of 64,” MHS advanced over Theodore Roosevelt High School from Des Moines, Iowa. In the “Top 32” round, MHS advanced over Plano West Senior High School from Plano, Texas.

In this “Sweet 16” round, MHS will compete against Hamilton High School from Chandler, Arizona. The top 16 teams represent schools from 10 U.S. states, and China, Slovakia and Taiwan.

On March 21, the “Elite 8” teams will be announced. Those teams will travel to New York City on an all-expenses-paid trip to the IPPF Finals in New York City. The Finals will take place on April 21 at the Harold Pratt House.